1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a pressure vessel.
2. Discussion of the Background
A fuel cell vehicle which is equipped with a fuel cell and is operated using electricity generated by the fuel cell as an energy source, has a hydrogen tank (pressure vessel) which supplies hydrogen (fuel) to the fuel cell, a compressor which supplies air including oxygen as an oxidant to the fuel cell, a coolant pump which delivers a coolant circulated in the fuel cell, a PDU (power drive unit) which converts direct-current electricity to alternating-current electricity, a motor for driving, and a drive train which transmits the driving force of the motor to a driving wheel. Here, external devices such as the compressor, the coolant pump, the PDU, and the drive train generate heat with their operation.
The hydrogen tank is filled with hydrogen at high pressure. A hydrogen supply passage which supplies hydrogen from the hydrogen tank to the fuel cell has a pressure reducing valve. The target pressure of hydrogen is set according to required electricity calculated based on an accelerator opening. The pressure reducing valve is controlled so that the secondary side pressure of the pressure reducing valve can be the target pressure.
Unlike hydrogen (gas) filled into such hydrogen tank, a fuel tank which reserves a liquid fuel (gasoline), the fuel tank having a multilayered tank configuration to prevent fuel vapor occurrence due to heat input and incorporating a heat radiation means thereinto, has been proposed (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 2001-130271).